


Pagan

by Mechanic_Dove



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Blood, Bringing your boyfriend back to meet your mom only you're not boyfriends why the hell is he here, Canabalism, Human Sacrifice, M/M, Pagan Hux, Poisonous flowers, Power Bottom Hux, Run on sentances, Violence, Virgin Kylo Ren, Witches, drunk gossip, pagan au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 10:24:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9176839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mechanic_Dove/pseuds/Mechanic_Dove
Summary: General Armitage Hux, a goddess fearing pagan witch.What a day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ATTENTION: The version of paganism in this fic is absolutely fake and not meant to be offensive.

It had been something like ten years since the last time the general’d taken time off. Learning this information from Phasma days after Hux’s departure from the Finalizer was frankly insulting. Even worse was the fact that he seemed to be the only person on the ship who hadn’t gotten the memo about the General’s absence. He and Nyeta, Hux’s second in command, remained in control. She was cold and quiet, arguing with him less than he was accustomed to and blatantly ignoring him more. She was less prideful than the General, but Kylo found her arrogance would likely get her killed, possibly by his hand.

The ship remained alive, full, and grey as usual. Kylo hadn’t even noticed Hux’s absence until Nyeta tried to confront him about repairs Hux had long since given up on getting him to take responsibility for. By the end of the third day a scout returned from D’Qar to alert Nyeta of a planned rebel attack. They had a week and frankly even without their General it would prove to be no problem.

It was two days later they realized they did not in fact have a week. One mining moon was taken and two others placed under siege before it was clear that Nyeta was not nearly as talented as she had appeared at first, she lost troops faster than they could be replaced. By the time Kylo arrived to try to salvage the fight a retreat had been ordered. There was nothing to do, too many losses already.

When he pressed as to how exactly a rag tag army had captured important resource mines in days he was only told of three Jedi leading a charge and a number Stormtroopers defecting to the rebels when they caught sight of FN-2187. Seeing him, bright blue lightsaber in hand and in better condition that most of them had been since the fall of Starkiller Base, most chose rebellion over loyalty.

When it came down to the General and Nyeta, she was much more afraid of Snoke. Standing before the hologram on the Finalizer she shifted looking anywhere but at him, military training failing her. She was absolutely helpless, barely able to defend herself when Snoke placed the blame of the failure on her. She was left without her head and Kylo was placed on a shuttle to retrieve the General. Arkanis was the destination and while it was mostly cities along with the famed Academy, Hux was out of holo range. This placed him in the only patch of green on the planet.

Why Hux was in the middle of nowhere not three months after Starkiller base was beyond him. Nothing about the General reminded him of a man who craved and sought out the nature of his home planet. It seemed out of character, frivolous for someone who was so against sentiment and all the things that went with it. Kylo entertained the idea of an imposter in Hux’s body leaving him at just the right moment to give the rebels leverage in what most of the First Order refused to even call a war. At least if that was the case Snoke would finally allow him to kill the General, and perhaps even put someone else in power. Someone easy to manipulate who wouldn’t lead the Order into ruin. 

He slept and meditated in the hours between the Finalizer and Arkanis, when he finally entered the atmosphere he was almost disappointed to lose the last of his time to rest. The shuttle landed near the edge of the metropolis of Arkanis, in a hanger close to where metal and concrete met a thick wall of trees, leaving a stark border. 

Kylo felt the gruff Chiss man behind the counter watching him while he inspected the greenery, “Why is this forest still standing?”

“It’s Asenian land. Cursed.” He went about getting Kylo his ticket to retrieve the shuttle “We’ve tried to cut it down before but some disaster happens before we can do anything, dead project designers, illness, you know”  
Kylo looked back out, searching through as much foliage as he could, but he felt nothing in the force. It buzzed with life but none of it was intelligent. Not for miles anyway.

Without prompting the man continued, “I sure hope you don’t have any intention on going in there at this time of year. Too close to the solstice, wouldn’t want a witch to catch you where you least expected her”

Kylo snapped his gaze back, “A what?”

“A witch. They’re active around now, you can see the smoke from their fires at night” He lit a cigarette, not appearing too worried about his own stories.

“Why do you call them witches? Have you… seen them preform any acts?”

He snorted, “Of course not, no one’s dumb enough to get close enough to see anything. They’ve been there for centuries, it’s best not to get too close.” He leaned in, “though I’ve heard they take children who wander into the forest and sacrifice them their gods, that the leader rips the kids’ throats out with her teeth”

Kylo was unimpressed at most, “Thank you for your insight.” 

He plucked his ticket from the counter and went next door to buy water for his trip. Locals raving about death and destruction was nothing new. The idea however, that force sensitives may live in the forest was a worthwhile one. They would be useful recruits to his rather small circle of knights.

He still had no idea why Hux would go wandering into supposedly “cursed” woods on his home planet. Not long after breaching the trees he realized that they were not nearly as dense as he’d originally anticipated. The twin suns simply made the shadows longer and darker. He walked in as straight of a line as he could manage and found a stretch where leaves and grass was stamped into the ground. Regardless of magic or apparent human sacrifice there really were people in the depths of the forest. He stopped only twice to drink before the trees began thinning further and further until he caught sight of something ducking out of view into the dimness.

The force told him it was a small human girl, filled with fear at the sight of him, “I know you’re there. I won’t hurt you.”

She didn’t respond, shaking like a leaf from behind some underbrush. He strode forward and she got up scrambling further away, keeping a watchful eye on him. When he looked away she moved a little further from the hiding spot and he made a point to turn back and onto the path. He walked further into the thinning trees, causing the youngling to follow, ducking behind whatever she could when he turned to look at her.

The voices started next. A dull roar of chatter slowly getting louder as he got closer, giving way more to cheering and laughing. By the time Kylo reached the edge of the forest, leading out into a wide clearing it had grown almost deafening. A group in the middle of the clearing stayed tight together and oblivious to him, the girl darted past him and out to the people. She weaved through the small crowd, grabbing a woman by the sleeve and dragging her out of the fray. She pointed one chubby finger at him.

The woman looked up and for a moment their eyes met. He held up his hands trying to convey that his mission was peaceful. She turned but before she could walk over the cheering increased tenfold in volume, bodies moving back and out of the way for a man to stumble out of the center. Blood covering his hands and mouth, purple flowers tucked into the few short braids parts hair was weaved into. He was laughing, drunk, Kylo could feel, with the attention and nausea churning in this stomach. 

“Ler Asena!” He called, throwing his bloody hands to the sky as if offering them to it

“Ler Asena” the crowd echoed, laughing and patting his back. He watched them for a long while, jolting when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Next to him stood a tall blonde woman, the one the little girl had gone to get. She stood next to her, staring up at him with wide grey eyes. 

“To what do we owe a visit from Kylo Ren?” her voice was clipped and accented but not unkind, she watched him like she could see into his head, “We’re with the Order not against it”

To his disappointment no one in the clearing was the least bit force sensitive, he looked to her forcing himself not to bow his head to her, “I’m here to collect the general”

“Armitage? I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. He has at least two more days here. He cannot leave before then” 

“I’m afraid he’s coming with me. Now.” Kylo found himself pleased with how he sounded through the vocoder.

She puffed her chest out and while she was smaller than Kylo he had to force himself not to take a step back, “Well-“

“Mother w-“purple flowers stood out starkly against red hair and for the first time Kylo really saw who the man was. Hux approached them, still bloodied but less nauseous, “Ren?” 

“Is this him, Armie?”

“Am I who?” Kylo frowned, looking between them. He saw for a moment, Hux considering something, face melting from the cheer of earlier back to his normal scowl.

“Certainly not. I told you, mother, his name is Dopheld Mitaka.”

She seemed amused, Kylo found it hard to believe that the two of them were related, even though their eyes were of a nearly identical color. They held themselves differently, accents off, his face tight and serious while hers was soft but unyielding, “And you don’t think the master of the knights of Ren is better than a lieutenant?”

Hux grit his teeth and for a brief moment Kylo thought he knew what was going on

“Mother, stop trying to pick my lovers for me. I am perfectly happy as I am”

And very quickly Kylo was reminded that nothing within the last hours had made any bit of sense and naturally this wouldn’t either. Hux turned to him, still looking intimidating with flowers woven in his hair, a loose shirt drenched down the front with drying blood, “As it is, Lord Ren its time you go. This is no place for y-“

“Hush Armitage, you are very much aware that that isn’t possible anymore.” 

“And why exactly isn’t it?” Kylo felt for a moment like he was re-entering a conversation he was no longer welcome in. Hux’s expression reminded him of a child’s though the man tried to keep it blank, and the woman’s face had gone from   
warm to serious, “As if you could stop me? It’s a laughable notion”

Hux grit his teeth, “Mother this is ridiculous, he’s barely a part of the Order. The sacrifice won’t be effected by a near- rogue agent of Supreme Leader!”

“He’s part enough. You wouldn’t upset her anymore, would you?”

Hux’s jaw clenched, and after a few long moments he turned to Kylo, eyes determined, “Stay. Please.”

He paused, really honesty paused to look at Hux. The reality of the situation sinking into him slowly, Hux wasn’t telling, and he wasn’t asking. For once Hux was begging him to stay. This strange version of the man he knew from the bridge of a dark ship. This bright, horrible creature with too much pride to bow to a superior being, much less truly bow to anything be it Kylo or Snoke was begging him to stay. He was enjoying it far too much to pass up the opportunity, “And if I stay? What would I hope to get from it?”

He earned a glare and a pleased look, “I won’t bother you about damages to my ship for-“

“Not enough. Do you know what I want, Hux?” the man looked angry, caged, not quite as menacing as usual with the flowers in his hair, and clothes loose leaving his collar bone open and inviting, “I want you to stop embarrassing me in front of supreme leader, I want you to report my successes to him as if I’m the most amazing part of this army.”

“So you want me to lie?” Hux spat, face tight, and eyes hard as marbles. His posture had been hard and formal since the beginning of the conversation, as opposed to his mother’s more relaxed stance, though Kylo noted idly it had gotten sharper since he started talking.

“Well, if you doubt my power, I suppose I’ll just be on my way.” He turned, no intention of actually walking out of the forest without Hux when he heard the two of them cry

“Wait!”

He grinned, trying to keep how much he was enjoying this to himself as he turned back, “yes?”

“I promise. I’ll speak only positively of you to Supreme Leader. Please stay until the festival is over.” His fists were clenched and his mother had made herself as tall as she could. Tight and looking ready to pounce on Ren if she really needed to. The Hux family was proving to be very amusing.

“I will stay for…whatever this is. So long as you keep your end of the bargain. And trust me, I’ll know if you don’t intent to keep your promise.” He tapped the side of his helmet like he would be touching his temple. A subtle reminder that he could at any time he pleased be inside Hux’s head. He could control anything he wished if he had a reason to do it. The effect was shown well enough, Hux paling more that he was normally and nodding sharply

“I understand. I’ll keep my part of the agreement if you keep yours.” 

“Come in, we have mead and food for you, Lord Ren” His mother interrupted, green eyes sharp, “If you’ll have it, we understand otherwise but she would enjoy it if you participated in the festivities at this point. You have entered what’s left of her domain.”

“Her?” He frowned, curious as to how Hux’s mother had changed back to kind and relaxed again so easily

“Our goddess, Lord Ren.” She spoke it clearly, as if daring him to speak back to her. She reminded him a bit of his own mother and deep down he really did want to listen to her, to not disappoint her, but he laughed instead

“Goddess? The great General Armitage Hux has a goddess”

He watched, almost gleefully as Hux’s skin went from pale to bright red, he opened his mouth but was quickly cut off

“If you insult us, we can certainly keep you away from the festivities. Away from our nonsense religion. But you have to stay here until the next three days have passed. Then you’ll be able to take my son back to his ship to finish whatever business you have. I implore you not to insult my goddess in front of me again, however. Once even twice is forgivable. More than that is quite frankly insulting,” She pulled herself up tall and reached behind her to pull her braid over her shoulder. Unlike Hux she did not have any flowers woven into it, nor Kylo noted, did anyone else in the clearing. The others had braids, sure, some with beads, some with all sorts of stones, but none with flowers. As if noticing this, Hux reached up to touch them, hands gentle and careful with them like Kylo had never seen before. He brushed the bells of the flowers to make sure they were still there with his fingers before dropping his hands back down to his sides.

“Make this easy, Ren. Stay, I’ll hold up my end of the bargain” Hux was so defeated and honest that he really had no choice but to agree. Nodding his head slowly

“I will. Where shall I stay? Away from your festivities of course,” He resisted the urge to say ‘ridiculous’ feeling the need to keep from crossing Hux’s mother. Whether it was because he actually respected her or because she reminded him of Leia he couldn’t honestly be sure. He decided in the end not to open that can of worms and keep those thoughts deep down, buried where they belonged. 

“Armitage will show you” The woman responded sweetly, patting Hux on the back. He was surprised to see the general accept the touch, sighing like a put upon teenager and waving for Kylo to follow him, leading him away from his mother and away from the clearing into the woods. It felt darker and darker as they went on and Kylo had a hard time remembering what time of day it was. Every time he tapped into Hux’s emotions he found either irritation or uneasiness with the forest that Kylo couldn’t help but agree with. It didn’t appear to be a kind or forgiving place and long before he even dared walk into the only green patch on the whole planet of Arkanis Kylo had known the power of nature. The power of the Force in it and that no matter what he should never anger that power.

Hux stopped at a cabin in the forest, the wood old but sturdy and well cared for, “You’ll stay here. With my mother and I when we return. Do not touch anything that you don’t completely understand. We’ll bring dinner later.”

Not once did he look at Kylo, simply opened the door for him and waited, blood dry and cracked around his mouth. He felt like he couldn’t say anything. He felt like he didn’t want to push inside Hux’s mind to try to understand the goddess or the sacrifice or whatever this entire situation was. He wanted to know but felt strongly swayed against it and thus kept the force to himself, being careful even by his own standards with Hux’s head.

The redhead let go of the door after a few moments of waiting and let it swing shut, turning and going without a word. Kylo paused for long enough, the door slammed and he found himself outside, watching Hux go. The forest kept moving around him, like restless spirits poking their heads around the trees keeping their eyes on him. After a long while he reached up and pressed his fingers into the release valves on his helmet pulling it off. 

The air wasn’t crisp or clean like he’d imagined it would be. He supposed in a planet of pollution it wouldn’t be too hard to conceive that the one green spot wouldn’t have escaped the worst of it but more than that he felt… uneasy by how the air settled around him, like it was closing in suffocating him more than he had been in the helmet. The woods loomed around him and finally he pushed the door to the little house open and went inside. 

The first thing he found was that there was no electricity. There was enough daylight filtering down through the trees to make it possible to see where he was going and show him the half burned candles littering the surfaces of the room, all surrounded by matches. The place buzzed around him, symbols and crystals sitting on window sills and the heavy smell of sage nearly impossible to ignore. The place wasn’t large, as far as he could tell it was a single story and it only appeared to have four rooms. Every surface was covered in something or other and Kylo found more than a couple books with languages he couldn’t even begin to decipher.

Finally, after lighting and blowing out most of the candles in the main room, he wandered down a little hall and looked for any room that resembled Hux’s. It wouldn’t be messy, he was sure. It would have to be neat and organized like every part of the man’s mind. Everything having its own place and not a single thing in the room without a purpose. He did not, however find anything akin to that. Aside from the main room and a kitchen it seemed the two other rooms belonged to Hux and his mother. They were both dirty and uncared for as the rest of the small dwelling but they also both shared the trait of an alter sitting against the western wall of their rooms. Looking over it he noticed various crystals, feathers, ash smudges, but also to his amusement small bones looking like they belonged to animals and each had a shell full of some form of red liquid and more than a few human teeth sprinkled around a candle in the middle.

Either he had been led into some sort of trap, and Hux was part of a plot to kill him, or there really was some part of the no nonsense man that actually believed in the whims of some goddess so much so that he would leave in the middle of a war to be strange in a forest.

Honestly, Kylo hoped it was the second one. 

They couldn’t kill him, but having something like this on Hux was more than he could ask for in the best of times, being late bringing him back to the Finalizer would certainly be worth the years of blackmail he could pull out of him.

General Armitage Hux, a goddess fearing pagan witch.

What a day.

As the sunlight faded, and Kylo lit and re-lit the candles again finally accepting that he couldn’t find a calm state of mind within the house, and moved outside into the less than fresh air, and starry sky through thick branches and leaves. 

There, he still felt uneasy, but more at peace than he had been inside, settling on the front steps of the little house and closing his eyes.

Meditating was always something he’d liked when he couldn’t sleep, and the deep breathing and nothingness in his head kept him centered. He blocked the world out, and felt the force against his very being, making it easy to finally breathe again.

“Lord Ren. If you could get up” He looked up, surprised to find Hux looming over him with a couple of things that looked more or less like pastries in his hands, “I can’t get into the house with you sitting right in front of the door”

If he had any comments about seeing Kylo without the mask he kept them to himself, simply looking irritated and pointedly less bloody than he had before, flowers beginning to wilt in his braids. After a few moments it became clear that   
Kylo wasn’t just going to get up because he was told to and he sighed, sitting down next to him and shoving one of the pastries in his hands

“Dinner” Was the only form of explanation he got before Hux went about starting to eat, the smell of the little thing much stronger after a bite had been taken out of it. It was clearly more savory than the confectionary Kylo’d expected. He took a few tentative bites, finding it not to be poison and actually not half bad.

“So, Lieutenant Mitaka is your lover?” He really couldn’t resist the chance. He doubted it to be true but if it was…

“Of course not don’t be ridiculous.” He got a dark look for his question, “I told my mother that so she’ll stop trying to push girls at me. If she had her way I’d be married and set up here, only helping the Order through strategy from afar.”  
He finished off his little pie and pulled some kind of handkerchief out of the pockets of those too-loose pants, wiping his hands with it in a way that almost seemed surreal in how much the action screamed ‘Hux’. 

“By the way. What happened? Nyeta was supposed to take my place in my absence, logically the two of you should have been able to hold the Finalizer and the system while I was gone for a single week” He straightened and reached up, unbraiding his hair and pulling the flowers out of it, “Why did they send you?”

He had to resist the urge to scowl just at the reminder of Hux’s old second in command, “She proved completely useless. You certainly don’t know how to pick subordinates too put faith in. I had to kill her, for the good of the Order”

“You killed her? Then who’s in charge now? While both of us are off the ship, huh?”

“Captain Phasma. I trust her to lead the ship more than I trust any of your other cowardly subordinates.” He finished the little meat pie and watched Hux lay the flowers down gingerly in a row, their delicate petals shriveled and dark. He didn’t comment on Kylo’s choice of a leader, but the amount of relief he was putting off was reassuring to say the very least.

Kylo picked up one of the little flowers, turning it between his fingers, “Wha-“

“Be careful with that. It’s Acotium” He pulled the last of the flowers from his hair, “You outta wash your hands”

“Acotium?” 

“Monkshood, Ren. It’s poisonous.”

He frowned and looked back down at the little purple thing, squeezing a petal until his fingertips came away stained with its color, “Why exactly were you wearing poisonous flowers in your hair?”

Hux snatched the flower from Kylo, gathering up all the others quickly, “No reason that should concern you.” He stood again and nearly stepped over the taller man to get to the door, pushing it open, “You left candles burning when you went outside?”

Kylo turned to see that he had in fact left every candle in the main room lit, and that they’d burned down, most of them being no more than little wax stumps. He wondered vaguely, just how long he’d been outside. How long Hux and the rest of them had been in that clearing. He found it in his best interest not to comment, but still followed Hux into the home and over to a basin of water

“Wash your hands. Before you ingest that monkshood on your fingers and kill yourself.”

On principle, he wanted to disobey anything Hux told him to do. However, he was caught by surprise in the fact that he wasn’t being encouraged to eat one of the flowers, it would certainly be a simple way to get rid of him.

Hux disappeared with the flowers into the room Kylo had pegged as his and the force user found it in his best interest not to follow, instead going to work scrubbing his hands in the basin and emptying it outside in the grass. 

It was almost strange that Hux’s mother still hadn’t returned though her son had, and the night must have been more than half over. Stranger, he had little to no idea what Hux had gone off to do and only felt deeply that he probably didn’t want to know, deciding instead to sit on one of the old wooden chairs and wait.

Time went by, and just as Kylo was ready to get up and go outside to meditate Hux emerged from the room, with no flowers but hands colored purple from where they had been. He went to where the basin was and looked in to find it empty, sighing 

“Open the door for me.” He held his hands, palm up in front of him, looking more than a little irritated that Kylo had gotten rid of contaminated water.   
Which frankly felt unfair.

“Perhaps if you asked rather than told, General” This, he felt, was also unfair. Probably more than a little childish as well, but damn if it didn’t feel good.

“Just open the damn door, Ren.” They stared at each other for a long moment, neither moving. They held each others gaze like a staring contest, daring the other to blink first  
When Kylo could feel Hux’s hands begin to go numb he got to his feet.

There was another rush of relief when he pushed the door open, and he could just feel how hard it was for Hux not to go running the moment he could. He kept that pride he wore like his greatcoat and marched briskly through part of the forest. Kylo trailed, half to keep Hux from running, to drag this out for him, but also to make sure he made it to the water without fainting. 

Hux had only mentioned ingesting Monkshood to be poisonous but Kylo found it reasonable to belive direct contact may do the trick too. After all, the flowers when woven into his hair had probably never touched his scalp, and the rate of the generals’ heart along with his hands and now his arms starting to feel more and more numb it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.

“Why in the seven hells are you still following me, Ren?” They’d gone maybe half a Kilometer before Hux bothered to say anything, and even then he refused to turn to look back. Kylo stayed quiet, not particularly wanting to explain why he was coming along, and Hux didn’t say anything else, likely too proud to ask again. They moved through the forest, which seemed both too quiet and far too loud. Animals made noise all around them, but if Kylo tried to seek them out with the force it was like they weren’t there. Like they were blocking him. The wind rustled through the branches, but he could feel none of it on his face, and somewhere a brook or stream or something babbled but he couldn’t really tell if they were getting any closer to it until it was right in front of him and Hux had stopped and dropped to his knees.

He stuck his hands in the water and scrubbed at them has hard as he could, even though Kylo knew he could barely feel his fingers. He washed and rubbed until the cold of the water bit into his palms and then he cupped his hands together and pulled water out of the stream to pour it over his hair. Likely to get the remnants of poison flower out of it, Kylo supposed.

Once he was sure his skin was clean, he stood. Water dripped out of his short hair onto his shoulders and chest and he looked for all the world like a drowned cat. Angry, matted down, skinny with all the grandeur of his uniform and coat gone. 

“Well? Is there a reason you followed me here or do you just not know what to do with yourself without me to entertain you, Ren.” He pushed the hair back out of his face, slicking it into something of its usual design and pushed past Kylo to start heading back towards the house. 

He followed still, half unwilling to admit he wanted to make sure Hux didn’t die and half scared that he had no idea why he followed Hux out into the middle of some cursed woods in the first place.

Instead he said, “So tell me, the great General Hux bows to a goddess. Why?”

He felt his words grate on the man’s nerves and felt just a little better, “Defaulting to my religion to avoid a question? How elementary of you, Ren.”

“Oh, so it’s a full out religion? What even is the name of your goddess, tell me” He didn’t really expect an answer, Not with how closed off Hux was being about the whole thing and was almost comfortable in his victory after a couple minutes of silence passed

“Asena. Her name is Asena and she’s our goddess of war.”

He was almost too shocked to say anything, but managed regardless, “Your war goddess? You’re relying on a war goddess to help the Order and yet you mock the force and the real implications of it? You’ve seen what I can do and yet you-“

“The implications of what she can do are very real, Kylo Ren.” Hux turned on him, and while he appeared half his size Kylo still felt like he loomed over him, “I had scorned and ignored her and she replayed me with failure and a reminder that she decides who wins wars. She showed me what she could do to things I worked for years on and she destroyed them to prove she could. Starkiller is gone and I’m here, preforming her sacrifices and making amends so we don’t lose more than we have”

“Surprise General, we’re still losing. Since you’ve left we lost two mining moons, and force knows how many other things since I left.”

“The sacrifice isn’t over yet! Just two more days at this point. Two more days and she’ll forgive me.” Hux turned his back again and walked with a new purpose in his step, nearly leaving Kylo lost in the woods in his efforts to ignore anything else the man would have to say. Were his legs not longer, and his fear of the woods not potent in themselves he very well may have lost Hux. He opened and slammed the door to the little hut and for a moment Kylo found it in his best interest to not follow. 

He didn’t know if he believed in the existence or power of any goddess but he did know there was a power in the forest and a power in the little home. If Hux fit into the ebb and flow of such a power in anyway being in closed quarters with him could prove dangerous. Instead he perched himself on the front steps of hut and closed his eyes, reaching for the force. He didn’t trust the forest, and he didn’t trust Hux. He refused to sleep, instead slipping into the deepest meditative state he could drag himself into.

~

When morning came, and the chill of the night was replaced with soft sunlight and the voices of birds whom Kylo could not feel in the force. He reached his consciousness into the hut and found only Hux there, proving that his mother had not come back at all during the night. This was obviously their shared home, and Kylo supposed there must have been some sacrifice or some ritual among the pagans of Arkanis that kept her out. After all, after only a day deep in the woods the only logic he could pull from the actions of these people was their odd religion. He stood and started walking, suddenly intent on getting away from the hut and Hux, and to have a calm space to think. He hoped that even though it had changed from night to day, and even though his guide before was pointedly not there he would find the water.

He walked the near Kilometer he had gone with Hux and found nothing, and turned and walked back exactly the way he’d come and found again, nothing. No sign of the hut or even a clear path to follow to get there. The Force continued to feel empty and silent the further out he went, and even reaching back to Hux proved fruitless. 

He straightened and turned again, contemplating an old fairytale his mother had once told him about two children getting lost in the forest and leaving themselves a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way out. 

He had no breadcrumbs, and the closest thing to a plan he had was to mark trees with his saber, but even then he rejected that plan. He refused to cause any form of injury to the forest in fear of its retaliation. Places as strong as this were not ones to be tampered with or tested as they always made those who hurt them regret it.

Instead he began to search for pine cones, or anything along the earth that he could use to mark where he’d been. He moved his robes using them as a make shift basket when he heard a little giggle. He had his saber out, pine cones dropping around his feet as he did so and turned to face the little girl from the day before. She yelped when she saw his weapon and hid behind the tree closest to her.

The adrenaline remained, though the panic had abated. He took a few shaky steps towards where she’d hidden, “I didn’t mean to frighten you. You surprised me, youngling.”

Once he looked around the trunk he found that she was not there and instead was watching him from behind a tree much further away.

He chose not to address it at any length, in case it was a trick of the forest there was no point in allowing the child to think he was crazy as well as dangerous, “I won’t hurt you, but you really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.” He offered his hand out to her, putting the saber away as he did so

She took a few tentative steps out towards him and ne noticed, belatedly that she was barefoot. Her face was dirty and her hair tangled, she had on dirty play clothes that he remembered from the day before. She came to him the rest of the way as if he would suddenly lash out at her and finally put her little hand in his

Kylo felt a level of fondness for the little thing, “What’s your name? Are you lost out here?”

She shook her head and tugged on his hand, taking him in the direction he’d been going, stepping over pine cones and needles like she didn’t feel them at all. He allowed her to pull him along,

“Can you speak, youngling?” She looked back at him, grey eyes blank and turned back forward, giving him no sort of response. 

He tried again, “Where are we going?”

She stayed silent, hold on his hand getting looser as they found their way to what looked to be more of a beaten path. 

Suddenly the youngling stopped in her tracks and Kylo nearly toppled right over her, she looked back at him, and smiled.

He opened his mouth to ask her why exactly they were no longer moving when he felt it, panic and desperation and heard feet rushing towards them. He would be more worried for the child if he had not been able to tell even at a distance that it was Hux heading towards them.

She didn’t appear to be as scared, like he’d expected but she grinned sunnily, hopping from foot to foot like she was excited to see who would be coming through the trees and she let go of Kylo’s hand completely by the time Hux came into sight.

“Ren!” He hissed, looking both furious and incredibly relieved, “I thought you’d left last night! What are you doing out here? Are you trying to get lost?”

He opened his mouth to argue, both angry that Hux would think he would get lost without supervision, and angry at himself that he actually had, but He continued, “You know what? I don’t care, but you’re coming with me today. I’ll have a better opportunity to keep an eye on you if you’re at the festival with me.”

He frowned, “Who said I need you to keep an eye on me?”

“I did, just now. Besides would you rather sit in that dusty old shack all day? Or wander around alone in the woods?” 

“I wasn’t alone” Kylo protested, “She-“He pointed to where the girl had been only to find that she had disappeared completely

Hux looked unamused, “I don’t have time for your force spirits right now, Ren. Come with me or I’ll let the forest have you.”

Just to prove that they both knew who had the upper hand, Kylo took a deliberate step away from him, “If you do I’ll leave, and your sacrifice won’t mean a damn thing. You’ll still have to return to the finalizer after your three days are up, your goddess will still be angry with you if any of this means anything” The opportunity to needle Hux about his religion was something Kylo had never had the ability to do before, he had certainly endured enough snide comments and ignorant mutterings about the Force from the redhead to fully enjoy the chance to get him back.

It was gratifying to see how he tensed, how he just barely held himself back from reaching out, “Wait!” He grit his teeth and for a delicious moment Kylo thought he would beg, “Come back with me. The festival is better than wandering through the woods or sitting in a shack and if nothing else you’ll have something to use against me later.”

He found himself disappointed, but satisfied with his power over his co-commander, “Fine. I’ll come with you and stay until your sacrifice is over, but remember our deal.”

Hux grit his teeth, “I haven’t forgotten.”

“Good. Lead the way then, General.”

Hux looked very much like he wanted to say something back but instead turned and started heading through the woods, they passed the shack within a matter of minutes and Kylo felt foolish for assuming he knew when exactly he’d be back at it when walking around in some unknown forest. They moved through the terrain, so gorgeous and so off putting, though after a night he felt almost like it didn’t affect him as strongly as it had when he’d shown up the day before.   
The voices hit him a small while before they actually made it to the clearing, and he was almost comforted to find that the woods weren’t trying to trick him anymore, and by the time they entered a bon fire was visible and raging and a few humanoids were sitting around it, chatting pleasantly.

Hux looked them over, appearing something between worried and curious before heading over to the group, “Is my mother around here?”

A sweet looking girl with dark eyes looked up, “Oh yeah. She said she needed to leave you for the night. Something about the sacrifice and your visitor?” her gaze flickered to Kylo, and for a moment he felt nothing but a deep envy from her, 

“Is this him? The Ren?”

Hux sighed, “It is, Kylo Ren. He commands the finalizer with me.”

She gave him a bright smile, “But you do all the work right? I doubt he should be able to take credit or responsibility for what you work so hard to maintain?”

Kylo could feel Hux’s amusement, and ground his teeth, preparing to endure the smugness that would no doubt come out of his mouth, “He could be much worse. He isn’t a bad strategist and he’s a good fighter.”

He had to fight to keep his facial expressions blank without his mask, not wanting this girl to see him look as surprised as he felt by that. 

She made a little noise, entire demeanor going from distain to apologetic, “Oh, I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant to insult him like that, I thought you…”

He waved his hand, “It’s alright, Elizabeth. Please refrain from doing it again.”

She looked miserable, like a scolded child and nodded just a little, “It’s been a while Armie, I was hoping we could talk more before you have to go?” She stood, brushing some of the dirt off her muddy jeans to no avail, “You never come home, and I miss you”

Kylo had to cover a snort to which Hux shot him a scathing look, “I don’t see why not.” He turned to Kylo, who had been more than happy to just stay to the side and watch, “This is Elizabeth, My almost fiancé

And things fell into place, of course Hux would only compliment him to appear happy in his life in the First Order, the girl Elizabeth, seemed like she wanted him to stay even more than his mother did, “How lovely to meet you.” 

He tried to give her a smile that was purely pleasant, but found it couldn’t have been anything more than smug in how it must have looked. Her rush of anger proved him right

“Lovely to meet you too, Lord Ren. Thank you for your contributions to the First Order.” She moved towards Hux just a little, “Now why don’t you come along Armie? I have a new place to show you”   
Elizabeth held her hand out to him, and Kylo noticed him hesitate before accepting it

“I suppose I’ll see you soon Ren. Stay here.” He let her pull him away and from the bonfire another girl started laughing, Taking a long swig from her cup

“Oh this is lovely. I hadn’t expected to see any of this today” She looked similar in age to Elizabeth, and shared her dark eyes, “Absolutely gorgeous.”

“And what, exactly, is so funny?” He stood tall, keeping her gaze until she looked away

She took a drink, “Nothing you’ve done, Lord Ren, don’t worry. Why don’t you take a seat! Have a drink, it is a festival, and it’s supposed to be enjoyable.” She offered him her own cup, the faint scent of honey mixed with that of alcohol.   
He reached out, almost tentative and took it, staring at it for a couple moments before taking a little swig, “Why were you laughing.”

Her dark eyes sparked against the light of the fire, “I thought it was funny, Armitage’s mother mentioned you being here and how she wanted to give you two time to get ‘comfortable’. Elizabeth hasn’t given a shit about him since he embarrassed her in front of everyone a good… goddess, six years ago? Anyway, she hasn’t wanted anything to do with him since then and suddenly he had a man here in the flesh and she wants nothing more than to fuck the poor bastard in the woods. I love her, but her priorities are skewed, let me tell you.”

“What did he do to her?” He sat back in his chair.

The girl hesitated, “I’m not sure if it’s my place to tell you anymore about it…”

“Nonsense. I’m here for Hux, not against him.” He blatantly lied, “I’m simply curious about this woman with him”

She watched him for a moment, “Fine, okay. Armitage is a bastard, and while we Asenians have never done anything but support the First Order and the Empire he felt…. As if this was a waste of his time. Cecelia, his mother, had set up his marriage with Elizabeth early and hadn’t taken into account any of the… factors that would get in the way. Like Armie’s dad wanting to make his bastard son a little first order soldier, or his sexuality having nothing to do with girls later on.” Kylo felt her convincing herself that if she got in trouble for explaining this later she could plead that she’d drunk too much, “Anyway, the festival is the only time we’re all together. He went ahead and told her that she could never be what he wanted, and that she was an unfortunate distraction from his work in the Order, and then very loudly told everyone else that he was calling off their wedding.”

Kylo whistled softly, taking another a sip of her drink, “Was that the last time he was here?”

She paused, frowning, “You know… I think it was the last time he was here. He was a lieutenant at the time, I think? Anyway, he left to fight the war and work on his grand project.” She leaned a little closer, and there was a certain satisfaction that she felt from gossiping that Kylo couldn’t help but enjoy, “He says he’s back to make his sacrifices to Asena, to make her forgive him for six years of nothing, but I think he came back because he failed. Because he needed to be with his mother, and his old friends, and be in the middle of the festivals we all grew up with to feel better about fucking up so massively.”

And suddenly, the information was far too much. There was something empty in the pit of his stomach and something like empathy for a man he hated and he could barely stand it. Harboring anything but distain for Hux felt too close to him. Something too open, to similar, too much. 

He sat back, putting distance between them after putting her cup back in her hand, “Well, that’s awfully unfortunate for him. He has to face being an adult again soon and leave the comfort of his mommy for his duties in the Order again”

The girl laughed, like Kylo shutting off hadn’t really even occurred to her, “sure, sure. But I think some part of him is happy about that too. Sweet little Armie always loved praise, so much so that he’d do anything for it and take anything close to it as a compliment. Just the fact that you’ve come to get him is probably a great honor. He’s needed by the Order, you’ve proved it.” She plucked the cup out of his hands and offered him an easy smile, taking another drink, “He may not be like that anymore, but he was like it when I knew him.”

“It’s changed. Hux is different now,” He needed to shut down this idea that Hux had any emotions but anger, irritation, and smugness at his expense, “He doesn’t get praise and seems more than fine without it. And for someone who enjoyed praise apparently, I’ve never seen him give it out to any of his subordinates.”

She hummed, “Pity. He was such a sweet kid.”

“The worst of us always were.”

She broke out in a sunny smile, laughing, “You’re awful glum Lord Ren. From what I hear we’re winning the war, Armitage is home, and the Solstice is tomorrow. Asena will be delighted with the sacrifice we have lined up and we have a knight of Ren here. I’ve never been this close to a Sith before.”

He shifted, “I’m not a Sith, actually. More of an offshoot branch of the Sith. They had a policy of only having two Sith alive, the master and the apprentice and I have a group of knights. It’s against one of the main rules of Sith culture. So…”

She didn’t seem deterred, “Force user then. I’ve never seen someone do it. I’ve seen my fair share of spells, but never the Force.”

He made a noise in his throat, displeased with her comparing spells to the force, “I’ve never seen a spell. What are they like?”

“Nothing like the holofilms portray them, at least. Though we aren’t any conventional coven. Our goddess is one of war and we… Well we worship her as such. Our younglings all serve war in some ways, many from Arkanis, whether it be engineering, propaganda, joining the Order like Armie did, whatever. Our goddess provides all those who spill blood.”

Kylo blinked twice and felt too naked without his helmet, expressions open for anyone to see and interpret, “I see… and are all witches like this?”

“Oh no. Actually we’re the only ones that worship our goddess. There are other covens, but none like us.” She took a long drink, “Did Armitage never tell you any of this?”

He sat back, finding that he actually might enjoy the girls’ presence, her mind fuzzy with alcohol and not distracting from his own thoughts as others minds so often did, “Never. I wasn’t aware he was a religious man until this.”

“Sounds like him. I know for a fact he keeps a goddess icon on him for protection.” She grinned lazily, head lulling back, “He always used to anyway. Maybe he stopped”

Kylo snorted, watching as her sentences went in a roundabout fashion, “Well, perhaps I’ll have to see if it really is at some point.” Not because he particularly cared, but because deep down Kylo Ren master of the knights of Ren was truly a terrible gossip, the Naboo in him he supposed, and because she was clearly not any sort of threat, she likely wouldn’t remember any question he asked later he found himself sliding a little query into the conversation, “What do you think that Elizabeth girl will do to him?”

She cooed sitting up fully, limps dragging like she was a ragdoll held up only by her torso, “You do like our little Armie!”

“Nothing of the sort, I would like to know if I’ll actually get my General back in one piece at the end of this whole festival nonsense. We do actually need him.”

She purred, “Oh Lord Ren, its fine, you don’t have to lie to me, I can keep all your secrets,” This was doubtful as since he’d sat down all she’d done was spill other’s secrets to him.

“I assure you. I have no feelings for the General, he’s at most an untrustworthy ally and at least a thorn in my side.”

“I’m certain he would say the same about you.”

Both he and the girl jumped out of their skin, whipping around to find Cecelia Hux standing tall and imposing behind them

“Cecelia!” The girl exclaimed hopping to her feet and giving the woman a hug like her gaze couldn’t burn down the supposedly indestructible forest, “We were wondering where you’d gone off to! Is everything ready for tonight?”

“Most certainly. You’d better get a nap today lest you fall asleep tomorrow, Marley.” She pulled the girl off her as gently as possible, looking more disappointed than actually upset, “go on, sleep off the mead.”

“Yes Ma’am!” She headed off, stumbling every couple steps with an audible “Whoa” accompanying every one. 

Cecelia Hux turned her gaze on him, and he found she gave an unnervingly small amount of emotion to the force, “My last name isn’t Hux”

He was jarred to say the least by her words and just barely held himself back from blurting ‘You can read minds’ like he was six and in front of Uncle Luke again. He had come to understand in the short time he’d been there that there truly was a power to the woods, and apparently to Cecelia not-Hux. Whether these powers were from any form of Goddess, well he still had his doubts

“That’s a lot coming from a dark monk with a laser sword” She took the girl, Marley’s, seat and kept her gaze on him steady, “Did Elizabeth drag Hux into the woods?”

It was both a reassurance to hear someone else call Hux by the name Kylo knew him by, and strange that his mother would be the one to do it, “She did. Should I be worried about him getting murdered out there?”

“Certainly not. Elizabeth is forward but not violent with members of her own coven. Certainly not one in the middle of a sacrifice, she knows better.” She looked out to the fire and closed her eyes for a moment like she was soaking it in, 

“We’ll be setting up soon. It’ll take up time and we could certainly use someone as tall as you to help. Technically this was part of the plan. Hux isn’t allowed to see the area of the sacrifice until it’s all set up and ready for him. Bad luck.”

Kylo snorted, “What, like a bride seeing her groom on her wedding day?”

“Exactly like that.” She peaked an eye open, mischief dancing in it, “A wedding can still be arranged of course, it won’t be easy but we are nothing if not a culture of those who persevere”

“He was right about you trying to push marriage down his throat.” He sat back and found himself sorely missing Marley and her alcohol, “I’m curious as to why the people around here are delusional enough to think that the General and I share anything but contempt. I came here because I had to get him not because I wanted to.”

She chuckled, and he felt very much like he was being toyed with, “I suspect Marley was trying to see if she could get a tantrum out of you. You’ll learn sooner or later if you can’t figure it out for yourself.” She stood again, already finished with her conversation with him and rolled her shoulders, “Go find someone who looks like they need a hand and help them. If you do well enough maybe I’ll let you attend the sacrifice tonight.”

He weighed how curious he felt deep down about the ins and outs of the coven and the blatant disrespect that Hux’s mother thought she could throw his way. The opportunity was not one to be passed up.  
But he would do it when and as he pleased.

He stayed by the fire for the better part of an hour, watching the various members of the coven scurry around, setting up what he could only assume to be protections through things like crystals and oils. A group of younger boys sat in a little circle on the far side of the clearing weaving together what looked to be crowns out of twigs and leaves. No one stopped by him to say anything, and more than a few of the adults stopped by a table they’d set up to pick up a cup and take a drink out of whatever was inside. 

He only stood when he supposed enough time had passed for his pride to not suffer at all, and went to the first person he could pick out that may be in charge, which appeared to be a rather short plump girl with dyed hair and wide eyes

“How can I help?” He felt strange, like he was toeing around the living room the afternoon of one of his mothers’ parties. Like he was imposing, like he should have asked earlier, like he was getting in the way by asking at all. 

She turned to him and looked him up and down, “Lord Kylo Ren? I wasn’t aware you were here” She was scared of him, that much at the very least was clear. She fidgeted, looking more than a little uncomfortable, “We, uhm…. We were getting ready to set up the main tent... it’s heavy and we’re rather low on people if you want to help…?” 

He found himself amused, wanting to stay and toy with her longer, even though some deep part of him screamed that Cecelia was watching and if he hung around and didn’t help, nothing good would come from it in the least. He nodded, almost politely to the girl, “Where are they setting it up?”

“There.” She pointed, “It’s still in the bag on the ground, I’ll send over people to help if you’d like...”

He shook his head and went, setting right to work. To begin it was awkward, he insisted on doing it alone and he then had to wrestle the large amounts of fabric and thin durasteel poles out of the bag and he found himself grossly misusing the force throughout the majority of the set up

The sun had reached its highest much faster than he’d expected and at some point, he’d noticed a steady stream of children bringing him cups of water or mead, their little dirty faces beaming and even the shyest of them didn’t tremble like the woman had. 

It was… almost therapeutic, a chance to do mindless work that people found absolutely mystifying. By the time the tent was up, he’d stripped out of the top layers of his cloak, and out of his under shirt, leaving him bare chested with his suspenders swaying around his waist.

Cecelia, looking pleased, brought him a bowl of something that smelled better than it looked.

“You’ve certainly earned your seat tonight, My Lord.” She handed it to him, gesturing to the bonfire that had somehow been kept roaring all day, “You’ll want to get some sleep, however. The festivities start at midnight tonight and once they start you’ll have missed your chance to rest. Lest you face a whole year of bad luck and cruel spirits at your back.”

She sat, picking a glass of mead off the ground next to her chair, “The General will be pissed I’m here to see this.”

“Will he?” She took a sip, smiling, “Why?”

“He doesn’t tell you much does he?”

“Not in the least. He did always like his ass of a father better for some reason” He was again suddenly reminded sharply of Leia, and tried to ignore it, “I only heard about this Mitaka fellow because I had to send him a fake invitation to his own wedding.”

Kylo snorted a laugh, actually covering his mouth to avoid spitting out the spoonful of soup he’d taken, “It’s a lie you know. Lieutenant Mitaka.”

“Oh I’m aware, don’t get me wrong I’m livid that he wants to lie to me about his love life to keep me out of it.” She pauses, “He was never very good at lying either. But letting you into the festival is a little bit of revenge for me, Lord Ren.   
Armitage is nothing if not desperate to prove his strength and worth to those he respects, or even likes. He’ll have to work twice as hard to keep himself together during this.”

Kylo found the notion that Hux so much as respected him laughable, if not entirely impossible. 

“Even if my hunch is wrong, he’ll keep it together out of spite” she looked amused again, at his expense and he found that he hated it more than anything else he’d been forced to endure in the last day. She stood, looking delighted, “So go get some sleep when you’re done eating. I’ll send Armie to wake you up when it’s time for the festival to start.

He wasn’t impressed, but she’d started walking away before he could really react. So he did what she said. The walk to the cabin was shorter than it’d felt before, and while the forest left him feeling uneasy, for once he did actually feel safe on his trek. He dropped onto the General’s bed once inside, Cecelias words fresh in mind

~

When he woke up, it was to his entire body crashing onto the ground. He was moving as he could be, reaching for his saber which he found wasn’t on his body. It took him too long to get his bearings, to roll over and get up and look for whatever had done such a thing to him and found Hux.

The man looked a little like he was trying not to laugh, doing his best to keep his expression livid. He held parts of the blankets Ren had fallen asleep on in his hands and Kylo realized slowly that the General had been uncharacteristically childish.

“No one gave you permission to sleep there, Ren. Has anyone ever told you you’re a terrible house guest?” He dropped the blankets, managing to finally beat down the part of him that thought the situation was funny. 

Kylo was sure he looked a mess, he usually did after just waking up and he had fallen asleep in his trousers and still sweaty from the work he’d had to do, “I suppose no one’s told you you’re supposed to be kind to your guests then?”

“Mm, for important guests sure. “ He watched, while Kylo got up, fighting a losing battle to get his hair into place, “It’s almost midnight. My mother told me you had been…. Formally invited to the celebration.”

Hux stuffed a shirt at Ren who was more than surprised to get it, it was white and loose, the collar of it so wide he felt like it might slip off his shoulders of he moved too much, “What’s this?”

“Something to wear? It may be summer but it’s not particularly warm here at night, if you go out there without a shirt you’ll be complaining within the hour and I guarantee I’ll have to babysit you like I always do. 

He snorted, he’d learn a long time ago that he shouldn’t rise to Hux’s bait, just as Hux had learned not to rise to his, “Are you sure it’s not just because you don’t want any of your witches to think I’m cute and invite me back?” He pulled it on, amused

“With a face like yours? I have nothing to worry about.” He had flowers in his hair again, thought they didn’t appear to be the same poisonous ones he’d had before. The shirt he wore looked almost exactly like Kylo’s, showing off the spattering of freckles on his shoulders.

He gave Hux a dark look, finding nothing to retort with that didn’t feel absolutely juvenile. He didn’t want to make himself look worse by grasping for straws.

One he’d put on his shirt and shoes Hux turned without a word and lead out of the house and through the woods, which, to Kylo’s pleasure were starting to seem more familiar. He felt like if he wandered by himself, he may manage to find the clearing, or even the way out of the forest as a whole. 

Once they arrived Hux stopped and took a deep breath before heading into the crowd of people, he was greeted by a plethora of chatter and more than one person coming up to slap him on the shoulder.

One in particular, a child really no more than thirteen kept bouncing around Hux, trying to get his attention and starting a lot of sentences that ended when he realized he didn’t have the focus he wanted. Finally he took to tugging at the hem of his shirt and speaking louder

“Are you gonna do the sacrifice? Are you really gonna do it? I heard you threw up in the practices, do you think you can keep it down this time?”

“Yes, Caleb I have full intention of keeping it down.” He looked fonder than he did irritated, which Kylo found was more surreal than anything else he’d seen during his time in the woods, “Well begin in an hour, right?”

“Absolutely!” He bounced, far too much energy in his veins for the time and hurried off.

“You’re doing a sacrifice?” Kylo moved closer once some of the people disappeared, curious

“Yes, and regrettably you’re invited. So I suppose it’ll be something of a new experience for us both.” He looked over, red hair ablaze in the light of the lanterns and still raging bonfire, “I suggest you avoid eating or drinking anything until the sacrifice is over. I’m certain you have the stomach for such things, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe. For the sake of not embarrassing the Order in front of these people.” 

Then he was off, once again leaving Kylo alone in a clearing of witches, and it was only a short amount of time before the dark haired girl from earlier, Marley, found him. She appeared to be sober, unlike before and her smile was crooked, 

“Lord Ren. You don’t look ready for any kind of sacrifice tonight!”

“And how exactly am I to be ready for a sacrifice?” She had her arms wrapped around his and it took most of his willpower not to shake her off, finding the affection awkward and at best irritating.

“Well, your hair’s a mess. And you don’t have flowers, or crystals, or anything! Come along. We have to fix this.” She dragged him to where the children had been making crowns of leaves and twigs earlier and he noticed a small array of flowers, the most prominent being pink flowers with wide horns. He allowed her to pull him to the ground and comb her fingers through his hair. She undid all the tangles with little finesse, pulling and yanking when her fingers got caught and driving his nerves up and up. Multiple times he nearly snapped at her, but kept as much of his calm as he could and by the time she’d begun braiding little segments of his hair he found himself almost relaxed. He felt every now and then when she tucked the stems into his braids, or incorporated them in to his hair somehow.

After a long while she pulled her hands back, “Done! Now, those flowers in your hair are angel trumpets. So don’t eat them or eat something after touching them. Wash your hands regularly.”

“Are they poisonous?”

“All of the flowers we use in our sacrifices are poisonous. If not for that, then we have nothing to contribute to Armie’s sacrifice.”

For a moment, Kylo felt something like ice run through his veins, something he’d not felt for years, “what do you mean by that? Is Hux going to die?”

“Oh certainly not! Did no one tell you about what happens in a sacrifice?” She yanked at his hair, evidently trying to pull a braid tighter

“No. No one has told me much of anything since I arrived.” He resisted the urge to pull back against her grip again. She braided and pulled and huffed as she went like it was his fault his hair wasn’t cooperating with her. 

“Well, I suppose if you haven’t learned yet from Cecelia or Armie there’s a good reason… Well Cecelia anyway, Armitage has a habit of being petty with people like you.”

“People like me.”

“You know, you pretty, effortless types. He’s always hated people who have everything they could want. It gets worse if he has a hard time finding reasons to dislike you.” Kylo snorted at that, he certainly didn’t want to see what Hux was like if he had any problems finding things to dislike in him. The man practically had an alphabetized list with prices on why he hated Kylo.

“Interesting idea, but that’s not what he thinks.”

“Oh I think I know Armitage better than you do, Lord Ren.” He wondered suddenly if she had been drinking, or simply if she was trying to die, “We’ve been friends since long before he joined the Academy. He told me, and only me about pushing the boy who took his virginity down stairs. Wanted to kill him so he could never tell anyone about what happened. He succeeded.” She pulled again and he got the feeling it was deliberate, “I know when he’s being petty and why he’s being petty.”

“I haven’t seen him speak to you once this whole time.”

She tugged again, reminding him of a child, “And that is none of your business.” She stood, “Your hair isn’t done yet. I’m going to go get someone else to finish it.”

She walked away, shadow dancing over the grass as she went and he considered taking the flowers and the braids out and leaving. She would be too drunk later to care about whether he’d stayed still for her or not.  
The opportunity didn’t present itself, not more than a couple minutes after she’d left Hux returned with a glass full of something yellow and sweet smelling. 

“Oh goddess damnit, she tricked me.”

Kylo snorted, taking the opportunity presented to him, “So? Are you going to help me?”

He glared but shuffled over and plopped down behind Kylo, cursing softly when some of his drink splashed over onto his hand. Not to long after the general took the braid Marley had been working on and went back to weaving it together, 

“With this you’re part of the sacrifice. So line up with everyone and do what they do.”

He nodded a little, feeling his heart beat against his chest and letting Hux tangle his hair with flowers and whatever sugary drink he’d spilled on himself.

It felt like it was over before it really started. Hux, to his credit was gentler than Marley had been, carefully pinning his hair in place and pulling much less than Kylo’d expected him to. It was almost calming to have a sense of trust in his co-commander while people laughed and danced around them, the stars trembling as if they knew the First Order would come for them next.   
Cecelia Not-Hux’s voice ruined the perfection of the moment, “The sacrifice will begin now! Everyone gather your offerings!”

Hux made a soft noise in his throat, hands dropping from the braid he’d been working on. Kylo felt nervousness buzzing around the generals head like bees, stomach churning like he would puke right here, before the sacrifice had even begun. His hands shook.

“Listen to me, get in line and give what everyone else gives. I… I need to get something”

He was gone before Ren could bother to press into what exactly he meant and found himself swept into a line of people, watching them one by one drop something into the fire, blue prints, a blaster shell, teeth, and finally after watching half the group drop things into the flames it hit him

It was their contribution, He watched them drop in a Stormtrooper helmet, some cogs, a wrench, and propaganda posters. They one at a time gave the flames their part of the war. When it came to be Kylo’s turn he put his hands out and used the force to make the fire flare up, reaching towards the trembling stars. In the back of his head he heard the people of the coven approve of his decision. Some gaped, others made delighted noise and Kylo felt proud for the moment he could. The line, sooner rather than later reached its end, the bonfire peppered with various things given to it. 

Hux arrived not long after the final girl threw in her rebellion jacket, proving she was a successful spy. He dragged a duffle bag behind him, only opening it once he was right in front of the fire. 

The clearing buzzed with chatter, and Kylo found he couldn’t even look around at them, eyes locked on Hux as he pulled a body from the bag, what looked to be a human male, rebellion clothing obvious against the fire light. He appeared to be unconscious, or dead, Kylo had a hard time using the force, amid the feeling of the hundreds standing around him and the view of Hux, hair and eyes ablaze in the light.

“Ler Asena!” he called, “I offer this fool to your rule! His blood will spill for your empire! War until death for you!” Then from the bag he pulled a wicked looking knife, the edge metal and jagged. 

He watched, somewhere between disbelieving and excited as Hux raised the knife to the sky, metal glinting before in a swift motion be brought it down into the man’s neck. He heard gurgling, and coughing as the rebel man actually spasmed, blood spurting onto the generals hands. 

From the large amount of cheering he’d heard throughout his time with the coven he expected to hear the group, but aside from the wheezing breaths of the man, it was silent. The forest itself had gone still, quiet echoing around the leaves.

Before the rebel had even stopped twitching Hux pulled the knife down the center of his chest, slicing a deep gash into it. He pulled the blade from the cut and to Kylo’s surprise immediately shoved both of his hands into the man’s chest, yanking and searching like the sounds of bones breaking and blood squelching didn’t bother him at all. 

He went still for a moment before slowly pulling back, arms coming out red in the light of the fire with something held almost gingerly in his hands. He stood slowly, holding it up to the sky.

He was radiant, hair ablaze, blood dripping down his arms to snake into the sleeves of his shirt. In his hands he held what looked like a heart. A bright smile came over Hux’s face and he called loudly, “Ler Asena!”

“Ler Asena” The crows echoed back, barely moving. 

If not for years of training himself to show no emotion while he was a padawan he would have gasped the moment Hux shoved his face into the heart, taking a squelchy bite out of it. He was in awe, watching the man he knew, carefully gelled hair, pressed military uniforms, at all times strictly professional, actually bite by bite eating a raw human heart.

The blood from it covered his chin and mouth, dripping down onto his white shirt, making the once loose fabric cling to his chest. To the general’s credit, he wasted no time. He barely chewed each bite of the organ before swallowing and going in again. Without the help of the force Kylo would never know that the General was disgusted, stomach churning and acid hitting the back of his throat if he paused too long between bites. 

It was only with sick fascination, and a stomach for gore that Kylo could keep his eyes on the scene even when Hux pulled the heart away from his face to rip off a particularly stubborn bit, a long bridge of stringy muscle keeping them connected. By the time the heart was gone, and Hux’s hands empty Kylo found himself far too disappointed for his own liking. The sight of Hux, bloody and bright as the stars above standing over the body of a rebel went directly to his cock.

It was uncomfortable to think about, and he hoped that with the state of the sacrifice no one would really be looking at him. He was less than surprised that Hux’s nausea cut through his own arousal, giving him such intense churning in his stomach he was certain if the general didn’t throw up he would.

One by one, in silence the people lined up again, taking a flower from their hair and placing it in the gaping bloody hole in the rebel’s chest, Kylo copied them looking for what would be the next thing to happen.

Finally after the last flower was placed the cheering started, people going up to the general and slapping him on the back, laughing and Hux accepted it all, the affection and the praise that the general Kylo knew would never taken if they were back on the finalizer. In some twisted way, Kylo was both jealous, and proud of him. He kept a distance, accepting a drink from the first boy to offer him one and watching Hux preen in the limelight.

It went on for much longer than he’d expected, person after person wanting to speak to Hux, offering him drinks, which Kylo noticed he always refused. By the time he’d finally found his interest in eaves dropping on those who sat around the bonfire he got the attention he deserved

“What did you think?” He stood by the flames, a glass of water in his hand, and blood crusted to his face

“What? Of you cutting someone open and eating their heart?” He snorted, getting to his feet, “I expected more after you told me to keep an empty stomach. What you did was child’s play.”

“And I suppose you could have done better?” He looked more amused than upset, not even feeling the nausea of earlier, “I’d love to see you try”

“You want me to prove I can eat a heart? Or just that I can do better than you?” He stepped closer, grin pulling at his lips, “Hmm, General?”

“In your dreams, Ren.” He brushed passed him, looking over his shoulder as he left the clearing as if to check if Kylo was following. 

He found himself more than surprised that it has worked, moving to keep up with him as they went, heading through the forest quickly, Hux never once looked back at him on the way, opening the door to the cabin and letting it fall shut behind him.

He paused for a moment, both irritated and amused before pulling it open, heading through the dark hallway to where he knew Hux’s room would be. He’d managed to light a few of the candles in the dark, casting shadows dancing wildly over the walls. 

Hux turned, ethereal in the light and pressed in close, “Still think you can do better? Even now Ren?”

“Absolutely.” He pressed forward, pushing their lips together in a way that he wished he could justify with alcohol or some magic cast on him by the coven, he decided that if nothing else, he could pretend. 

Hux kissed back hungrily, pressing forward and up enough to compensate for the small height difference Kylo knew he had over the general. He pressed back until the two of them were pressing their chests together hard, trying to force the other back.

Hux gave in first, letting Kylo push him back onto the bed. There was something satisfying about the fact that he wasn’t in uniform, there were no tight boots or stiff jackets and he found he could rip right through the thin white shirt the coven had gotten him, dried blood chipping onto his fingers.

Hux laughed, loose and bloody and just tipsy enough from the night to let some of the ice melt off of him, “You massive impatient child” 

There was something beautiful about the way he sunk into the mattress, nothing of the Hux Kylo really knew there and something more intimate and earthy where it had been. Hux reached up and threaded his hands into Kylo’s hair almost tenderly before yanking on it hard enough to knock some of the flowers out, rolling the two of them over to be on top

He went for Kylo’s clothes, tearing and ripping everything in his way, He pressed close, breath ghosting over Kylo’s neck, “everything we’ll need is in the drawer.” 

For a moment Kylo suspected Hux would go for the drawer, but he stayed put, giving Kylo a sharp bite when he stayed still too long, “Are you going to get it or just lay there all night?”

He snorted softly, “Maybe I like watching you do the work for me” his hand went to the drawer, pulling it open and rummaging around in it for the things Hux wanted, before finally getting them. Hux snatched it from him and wet his fingers thoroughly before reaching behind himself, pressing one inside.

While Hux focused on working himself open, easy and slow, Kylo rolled on the condom Hux didn’t bother taking from him.

He reached around to try to help Hux, to feel more like he was actually helping but got slapped away, Hux’s free hand guiding Kylo’s around their cocks. He rolled against it, groaning and dropping his head back, “That’s it, Ren. That’s it”

He moaned softly, unable to stop himself, “I haven’t done anything like this...”

Hux paused for a moment, “You’re a virgin?”

He straighted as much as he could with the general on top of him, “And it won’t be a problem, I-“

“It’s fine, Ren, Really.” He seemed more surprised than upset, curious about it and pulled his fingers out of himself with a soft pop, “I’ll make it good, but if you tell anyone, supreme leader be damned I will end you.” 

He got a sudden image of Hux, young and in full academy uniform shoving another boy hard down a set of metal stairs, but banished it as soon as it came

Hux was lined himself up, making shallow little thrusts onto Kylo’s cock, working down inches at a time until he was fully seated, Kylo completely inside, “Goddess”

He put his hands on Hux’s hips, finding it almost natural in the almost awkward state he was in. After a few moments, where Hux looked more pained than pleasured he started slow shallow thrusts into him.

Hux leaned down, biting hard into Kylo’s neck, and Kylo felt him grin when he flinched at the pain of it

“Too much for you, Ren?”

“Hardly.” He gave a harder thrust up, reveling in the way Hux arched, making a noise in his throat and not letting it pass his lips. He knew somewhere that this was what it should be like, working to one up one another even when tied together in every way. Kylo took ahold of the the general’s cock, pumping it between them in a way he was well aware was inexperienced and sloppy.

A flower fell from one of Hux’s braids, at some point his eyes had closed. He didn’t make much noise though his mouth hung open. He looked too loose and too lost in himself to really hide how he felt. It was positively gorgeous, and as   
Kylo went he found himself trying to hit the bundle of nerves he’d read about, holos he’d clung to under the blankets of his bed at the Jedi temple. He had no idea if he’d hit it already, if this was just how Hux was, or if his inexperience was showing. The last person he’d want to show he was a fumbling virgin to was his co-commander. He focused more on stroking, adding and taking off pressure and trying to make his movements more smooth than jerky. He grew more and more frustrated with how difficult this was while still moving in and out of Hux.

Kylo was almost surprised when the general froze up, dropping his head back and shaking with pleasure. He didn’t quite scream, nails digging into Kylo’s stomach and tightened around him. He felt the heat pool at the base of his spine and move through him. He growled, arching and digging his fingers into Hux’s hips

Hux pulled off, pushing his bangs back and getting up off the bed, “don’t fall asleep, Ren. Its bad luck to sleep on the solstice.” He moved instantly to pull his pants back on and to his closet for a new shirt

“Really? You’re done already?”

“I’m not a sentimental fool” He moved to fix his hair, looking back and giving him a brilliant grin that Kylo was well aware he wouldn’t get back on the finalizer, “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but I didn’t join the order to make friends or fall in love or something equally ridiculous.”

“You can feel love?” He pushed himself up on his elbows, amused with the general putting himself back together

“Har Har, get dressed we have to go back to the festival or my mom will realize we’re gone” He looked almost like he had when they left, though with the fresh shirt the dried blood around his mouth and down his neck looked more out of place than it had before.

Before he was actually up and cleaned off, the general had left. He wasn’t surprised Hux was avid on them arriving back at the festival at different times to attract less attention but he still found himself slightly disappointed, even more when he saw the dark mark Hux had managed to leave on his neck and sit with the knowledge that he didn’t return the favor. Regardless by the time he was really headed back he was sure it was late into the night, or early into the morning. The forest was quieter, like the energy in it was calm, more stated than it had been in the days prior to the solstice and not half way back to the clearing he saw a little blur dart behind a nearby tree

“Are you there youngling?” He asked, feeling almost fond of the girl as she poked her head out to look at him, eyes wide and bright in the light, she moved out of the shadows and towards him, unafraid unlike the days earlier where she would scarcely be stuck in his line of sight.

He didn’t expect much from her, their encounters tended to stay short and to the point, “You should be at the festival, I’m sure if these woods are dangerous at night”

“Never to me” she replied, much to Kylo’s surprise. Her voice was deeper than he thought it would be, almost like a woman’s rather than that of a little girl, “Children after all rarely hurt their parents. You would be an exception to that rule”   
She straightened her little dress and turned, “come along, Master Ren or they’ll be missing you”

She started heading into the woods, not turning to see if he was following and he was nearly too shocked to follow, only moving when she was nearly out of sight in the dimness of the night, “Are you-“

“You’re welcome to come back whenever you please. You certainly have my blessing so long as you bring my darling general along with you.” She said

He paused for only a moment looking up when a cheer rose from the clearing just far enough away to hear. When he looked back, she had once again somehow disappeared. He cursed and looked around, searching for anything that might indicate where she’d gone but he’d more or less given up on the chance of finding her. He started moving again after a couple long minutes. The warm air of the night wrapping around him comfortably as he went.

Upon arrival he found Marley and for a good couple moments, considered force chocking her. She had a look on her face as if she’d been the cat that ate the canary, all teeth and bright eyes and he couldn’t help but think that things like that brought out the worst in him. Whenever someone thought they knew better and found a reason to say I told you so.

He rolled his shoulders and got a drink, trying to ignore her and pay more attention to the fact that Hux was doing his damndest not to limp, his walk stayed awkward and stinted but the fact that he tried to make it flow, tried to keep anyone from noticing was cute at most.

“He does like you quite a bit. Respects you, even” He hadn’t felt her coming with the force and cursed himself that he’d let Cecelia Not-Hux sneak up on him

“I have no idea what you mean” 

She snorted, “Bring him back here next year, alright? That’s all I ask. He gets through so much on his own merit but even he needs a hand from the goddess in the face of that damn rebel luck.” She smiled at him, and while he supposed it should look fond, it looked more like she was suckering him into something he wouldn’t soon get out of, “don’t hurt him. And trust me this isn’t a threat on what I’ll do to you, it’s a threat on his behalf. My son will destroy you if you hurt him, it’s our way.”

He let out a short snort, feeling something release inside him. Something that had been tense for a long, long time and finally found a way to relax, “I’ll count on that. It’ll be interesting to see him put up a fight”

She looked amused, “May the force be with you. You’ll certainly need it.”

He stayed in place, cloyingly sweet drink in hand as he watched Cecelia Not-Hux go back to the bonfire, mussing up her sons hair as she went and sending him spluttering as his old betrothed and Marley laughed.  
The flames spat up into the sky reaching for the stars as if marking them one by one for destruction. Kylo drank and supposed that next time they came here Hux would see to there being less of those stars. That he would do what he could to help.

They had a goddesses blessing after all.


End file.
